Comparing In Situ and Laboratory Osteological Observations

Abstract

Among the more than 2,000 interments from the Phaleron Burial Ground, 79 individuals buried in the Esplanada mass graves are said to have died violently, perhaps bludgeoned to death. The Esplanada remains were observed in the field by Ingvarsson and Bäckström (2019); ten of these 79 were later excavated and studied by Buikstra and colleagues in a laboratory setting. The field and laboratory analyses for these ten individuals are compared here. Estimates of skeletal sex and age at death were refined slightly through laboratory analysis. Stature estimates trended toward slightly larger values following laboratory measurements of long bones. Pathology observations for both teeth and bones differed significantly between laboratory and field contexts. While these results should not be generalized uncritically to other contexts and observers, we indicate that estimates of skeletal sex and age at death for adults varied little between these field and laboratory situations. Re-searchers should, however, note the differences reported here between field and laboratory observations of dental and skeletal pathology.